Phoenix Comicon is this weekend and I'll be in attendance on behalf of Classic-Horror. Like last year, I've been asked to participate in a couple of panels.

Thursday:

Not Another Remake! (Room 152, 8-9PM) --
Join Arizona's top Horror Film aficionados for a spirited discussion of
the pros and cons of the Horror Film movement of remakes. Hot on the
release of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" remake, the discourse is sure
to be lively! Why so many remakes? Panelists: Danny Marianino, Nate Yapp, Jeff Dolniak, David Hayes

The Halloween
franchise had delivered some pretty strong films with four entries
under it's belt already, so a fifth chapter should be promising and a
natural move. Sadly, the fact of the matter is that Halloween 5 is a
major disappointment. While it isn't without some merit (emphasis on
some), the entire film is a feature-length missed opportunity of epic
proportions. Characters we loved in previous installments are now
rendered impossible to connect with, lapses in series continuity are
impossible to ignore and the story eventually commits the ultimate
cinematic sin: instead of thrilling, it just becomes unbearably
boring.(read more...)

In a world that has become populated by hunky, teenaged
bloodsuckers with a penchant for sparkling, this reviewer finds it
very refreshing to go back to a time when vampires were of a charming
nobility and still possessed an air of mystique and utter horror.
Dracula is just the fix I need, providing an engaging adventure
story set to the tone of the moody European Gothics. While it is not
free from faults, this novel is a seminal piece of literature for
serious fans of vampires, whether they be Edward Cullen or Max
Schreck.(read more...)

While it's been swirling around the rumor mills for the past six months, a press release on Friday made it official: Image Entertainment will be releasing the complete series of Boris Karloff's seminal horror/mystery anthology Thriller on DVD on August 31, 2010. The show ran for 60 episodes over two seasons from 1960 to 1962. Boris Karloff hosted each episode and acted in a few of the stories as well. One episode, "Pigeons from Hell," made our list of great episodes of television horror. The full press release (courtesy of Tom Weaver posting at the Classic Horror Film Board) is below:(read more...)

What could be more terrifying than a madman who will stop at nothing to kill you? In Martin Scorsese's remake of the 1962 classic thriller Cape Fear, the answer seems to be a madman who has a point. Up until 1991 Scorsese had established a career as a magnificent film director whose films contain scenes of brutal violence combined with sadness, despair, and brooding pathos. The remake of Cape Fear was his first attempt at what could be called a horror film, and it does not disappoint. Scorsese, along with screenwriter Wesley Strick, take the basic structure of the 1961 film and flesh it out with seriously flawed characters that are nearly as dangerous to themselves as the madman Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is to them.(read more...)

Deep in the impenetrable mist, a beast cries out in the
night, a cry that is longing for release and raging to quench a
thirst that can only be satiated in the misery of others. This is the
scene taking place both in the streets of London and in the tortured
soul of Henry Jekyll in Robert Louis Stevenson's horror classic.
Within a mere 87 pages, Stevenson takes us on a journey that we are
likely never to forget, even after years of reading his beautiful
words.(read more...)

Put up the banners and bring out the cake! Prolific and oft-misunderstood genre auteur Jesus Franco, the man behind The Awful Dr. Orlof, The Diabolical Dr. Z, Venus in Furs, and Vampyros Lesbos, becomes an octagenarian today. In his eighty years of life, he's directed nearly 200 films, often writing, acting, and composing the musical score as well. Sure, he's reviled as a hack in some circles, but a number of critics (including the inestimable Tim Lucas) have also sung his praises. You can count me among his fans, as well. His films are like free-form jazz, played by a distractable genius who hasn't discovered Ritalin yet -- and I mean that as praise. There are moments, sublime moments, in some of Franco's films that simply cannot be found with any other director. He's a treasure and I'm happy to hear that he's still going. Feliz cumpleaños, Jesus.

There is really nothing I like more on
a chilly, rainy evening than sitting down with some of my best pals.
Of course, as these pals usually consist of murderers and madmen, I
like to keep them safely trapped on screen. They wield knives and
axes and machetes and chainsaws from the safety of the little box
that sits atop my chest of drawers. I sit on the bed directly across
from them shivering-just a little-in my oh-so-jaded boots. There
aren't a lot of films that can actually make me shiver in these old
boots, but when I find one, I hold on for dear life. I make sure the
experience of watching is sacred, and I don't mess around with
those little brats who laugh through some Fulci-style ocular terror. (read more...)

Eraserhead is a film of
disturbing beauty and harsh reality. These two things may seem to
cancel out, but in the talented hands of director/writer David Lynch,
the film takes us on a twisted carousel trip through the human psyche
and the troubled conditions of the soul. Too often cast aside as
simply a "weird movie," Eraserhead is a true piece of
visual art that deserves the appreciation of its audience that will
ostensibly lead to a further appreciation of life itself. This
admiration can be gained by a close analysis of the film's most
constant themes and metaphors that show how the film's content is
pertinent to events in our own lives.(read more...)

Out
of all the novels up for examination this month, Frankenstein,
penned by 19-year-old Mary Shelley, has been critiqued, studied, and
anatomically dissected (no pun intended) by literary analysts big and
small. Everything that could have possibly been discussed already has
been... and then was discussed some more. Therefore, it is somewhat
intimidating for a meager blogger such as myself to delve into the
multiple complexities and interpretations that arise from this
landmark in horror and the world of literature as a whole without
repeating things that have already been said. But there is a
thunderous rumbling in the sky that urges me forward and compels me
to continue in my dark studies. So with the eagerness of the devoted
student of midnight, I will compile together a creature that will
hopefully be more appealing to the eye than Shelley's tragic
monster.(read more...)